


Some Things Are Meant To Be

by Spazzin



Series: Love is Strange [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Mentioned Dadster, Mentioned Frisk - Freeform, Romance, Sad Goatmom, Sad Sans, Songfic, Timelines, i guess, mentioned Papyrus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 07:24:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7351585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spazzin/pseuds/Spazzin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you knock on an old door in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, will there be an answer?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Things Are Meant To Be

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in years, so I may be a lil bit rusty. Hope I did okay...

Toriel is just going about her day in The Ruins - baking a pie or two, she's reading, watering the flowers - and she realizes that she's humming a tune she's never heard before.

 

F...C...F...G A B...A...G…

 

She doesn't have ANY idea where she could have heard such a tune.  But she ends up finding a sort of comfort in the tune.  A distant, hollow echo of a long-forgotten sort of comfort, but it's better than nothing, that much is certain.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Snowdin, Sans is doing his thing - sleeping, chugging ketchup at Grillby's, working in his workshop, sleeping in his workshop with a ketchup bottle hanging out of his mouth - when he finds a strange tune in his head that he realizes is NOT in his head, but rather being hummed aloud by he himself.

 

C D...E...F...G A B A...G...F…

 

He's not sure why, but he finds an odd sort of comfort in the little wordless tune from nowhere.  It's a cold, empty comfort, perhaps from a timeline long-forgotten, taken away forever long ago by an unfeeling Anomaly that exists beyond the laws of this particular universe - perhaps the tune is a sign of some sort?  and if it is, is it a good sign or bad? - but it's a welcome comfort, if odd considering its nature.

And then Sans gets a job.  It's a pretty easy one, plus he gets to see his awesome little brother be awesome every single day, so it's pretty cushy.  One wouldn't normally expect sentry work to be described as "cushy" of all adjectives, but Humans haven't been seen in the Underground for over a decade, so yeah.  So Sans is taking one of his (in)famous breaks, and finds himself bored out of his SKULL.  He convinces himself that he's worked hard enough to take a break from his break, and so he...takes a walk.  Sans doesn't even realize that he's walking until he reaches a giant door.  But before he has time to ponder how he had walked about half a mile without falling ~~unconscious from the strain~~ asleep, he realizes that holy crap there is a giant door out here in the middle of freaking nowhere and it would be absolutely perfect for practicing knock-knock jokes because that is something any self-respecting comedian would think upon seeing such a magnificent door in the middle of freaking nowhere.  

* * *

And thus begins a daily tradition, knocking on a door in the middle of nowhere and pretending someone answered for a quick laugh during a long, boring day...

 

'knock-knock.'

 

F...C...F...G A B...A...G…

 

...until one day…

 

"Who is there?"

* * *

Toriel had been simply taking a walk to stretch out her legs when she heard a voice on the opposite side of the door.  She didn't recognize the voice, but out of either curiosity or some unfamiliar instinct, she crept toward the source.

 

"uh, dishes..."

 

"Dishes who?"

 

"dishes a very bad joke..."

 

Yes it was.  And she LOVED it.  Before she knew what was going on,

 

"O-oh stars, I'm so sorry!  That was a very good one!"

 

"heh.  if ya like that, i got plenty more."

 

So she decided to keep listening.

 

He had told around a dozen knock-knock jokes - all of them of a similar caliber to the first.  He was certainly skilled.  But two could play at that game...

 

"Knock-knock."

 

"heh, who's there?"

 

"Old lady!"

 

"Old lady who?"

 

"Oh!  I did not know you could yodel!"

 

Now it was his turn to laugh.

 

"wow.  you are _extremely_ good."

 

Clearly the voice had not expected someone to be on the other side of the door ~~not that she had expected to end up there herself~~ , but the man to whom the voice belonged seemed to go along with her responses all the same.  His appreciation for wordplay was certainly worthy of respect.  But that was not to be the best part, for though he left, he returned - day after day, week after week, he returned, bringing anecdotes about his younger brother's antics and some knowledge of astronomy - which in turn inspired her to tell some little tidbits about herself, including giving him her famous butterscotch-cinnamon pie recipe and regaling tales of her own children's antics.  Even better than THAT?  The fact that he not only returned, but in fact LOOKED FORWARD to returning...it made her feel happy in such a way that she hadn't felt in a very long time…

 

C D...E...F...G A B A...G...F…

* * *

Sans had no idea just who the old lady behind the door was, but the first time she told the tale of her fallen-down children, crying all the while, he got the feeling that she trusted him  stars know why . So he decided to open up just a little bit more.  Telling her about Papyrus, how cheerful and honest and kind and COOL he is, and how much it HURT him that Papyrus would never know more about their father -

And there he stopped.  No one remembered the existence of the former Royal Scientist of Monsterkind, Creator of the Core, save three, perhaps four Monsters.  It was beyond comprehension - how can someone be completely erased from existence while still leaving behind evidence that they existed?  Paradoxical, it was.

It took Sans a few minutes to realize he was crying.  Huh.  It had been a while since he last cried - how long?  Years?  Days?  Tomorrow of the last timeline?  He didn't _know_ anymore.  And he _hated_ it.

 

E A C E D...

 

And then he heard a knock - two knocks, actually.

 

"Knock-knock..."

 

He stopped crying long enough to respond.

 

E A C E D...

 

"who's there?"

 

There was a pause before the Lady Behind the Door answered, quietly...

 

E A C E D...

 

"...Me, if you ever need someone to open up to.  I...I will always be here, should such need arise to present itself to you, my...is it alright with you, if I refer to you as 'Friend'?"

Sans chuckled lightly, a final few stray tears of watery Aqua-colored MAGIC escaping his eye socket before being wiped away by his hoodie sleeve.  This woman...she didn't even need to ASK such a question.

 

"...if you're willing to do the same for me, lady, sure."

 

C C...A C A B...

* * *

Eight times.

 

Eight times, a Human Child has found their way into the Underground.  Eight times, Toriel failed to protect them from the man she once loved long ago.

Right now, the Eighth Child was sound asleep.  The Child, Frisk, seemed so, so familiar that it was almost painful.  They reminded her so much of Chara that it was almost uncanny.  The hopeful look in their eyes...their DETERMINED expression...but this Child was not Chara.  They were different.  Quiet.

Toriel checked the time.  Her Friend awaited.

 

She had never been more reluctant to speak with him - she had never been reluctant to speak with him, period.  But what she was about to do...

* * *

Something was wrong with the Lady Behind the Door.  She seemed...listless.  Resigned, almost, but not quite.  Her laughter, usually so clear and loud, sounded...forced.  Somehow, the thought of her having to force a laugh...it hurt him.

Why, though?  Why was she upset?  Only one way to find out...

 

"uh, hey, lady, somethin' wrong?  you, uh, sound kinda upset.  what's up?"

 

He could hear her inhale deeply, preparing herself to say something.

 

 

"Dear friend, I have a...a favor to ask of you.  If you would please, hear what I have to say?"

 

"uh, okay.  shoot."

 

"If...if a..." she paused to take in a shaky breath. "If a...a Human ever comes through this door...could you please, please promise something?"  The way she said those words, with the hurt, sadness and fear pervading them that she had only expressed when speaking of her long-fallen children, hurt him so, so terribly.  But she was not done.  "W-watch over them, a-and p-protect them, w-will you n-not...?"

 

Oh no.  A promise.  He hates making promises ~~never again~~.  Too much work, too much trouble ~~too easily broken~~.  And this promise...she was indirectly telling him to commit treason.  He didn't even know this woman's NAME.  For all he knew, she could be using him to further some kind of plot to usurp King Fluffybuns.

 

But...

He didn't care.  He trusted her.  He knew she had a reason.  After all, someone who sincerely likes bad jokes...

 

"okay.  can do, lady."

 

For her, he'd make that promise

* * *

 

Here they were.  Having a picnic under the stars, the REAL stars, on a hot summer night, in the middle of nowhere, away from the light pollution of the main town, with their little family.  Toriel was happier now than she had been in a long, long time.

Part of that happiness was due to the fact she and Frisk(whom she had successfully adopted after Monsterkind had breached the Surface) had taken up residence with the Skeleton Brothers, Sans and Papyrus, not long after they had reached the Surface.

 

"hey, tori.  mind if i join ya?"

 

Speaking of.  Ever since the moment they first met face-to-face, Sans had called her "Tori" like he had known her all his life.  She had also come to develop...strong feelings for him.

 

Oh, stars, who was she kidding?  She had fallen in love with him.  Why wouldn't she have?  He laughed with her, talked with her, listened to her, and made sure she knew that she was not alone - not anymore.  He was the light of her solitude - the first in ages.  Of course, he would never feel the same for her.  She was a silly little old lady who worried too much - well, for a given amount of "little", since she was head and shoulders past him heightwise, but still.

 

"Please do, Sans!"

 

And so he did.  He sat next to her, leaning against her left arm

 

"Sans?" she asked.

"what's up, tori?  ya know, aside from aquarius over on the horizon around thataways."  Toriel giggled in response

"Why do you have a ukulele with you?"

Sans smiled, warmly and yet somehow smugly.

"well, it just so happens that i gotta song i wanna sing to you.  i've actually had it rattlin' around in my skull for a while, but i just recently learned the words and chords.  you, eh...wanna have a listen?"

Well, consider Toriel intrigued.  "Of course!"

His smile was now kinda...shy?  Huh.

He held the ukulele in his usual way - upside-down to compensate for his left-handedness.

 

And so he began to play.

* * *

Well, now he HAD go through with it.  He just couldn't say no to that smile.  Hoo, boy.  This woman was gonna be the death of him soon enough (heh, death).

 

This woman had been through so much in her life, lost so much through no fault of her own, and yet she was still standing tall, fighting for her family's happiness.  Stars above, how he a-DOOR-ed her (heh, door).

 

And so he began to play.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys. Please tell me how I did, ways I could improve? I'm a lil bit paranoid about how I did, so, if you could, please do. Thank you for reading!  
> The song being hummed is "Can't Help Falling In Love."


End file.
